Printed circuit boards (PCBs) and interposing substrates are types of interconnecting substrates for electrically connecting microelectronic components together. In a typical application used in semiconductor manufacturing, a packaged microelectronic device includes an interconnecting substrate, a microelectronic die attached to the interconnecting substrate, and a protective casing covering the die. Such packaged microelectronic devices are generally known as Flip-Chip, Chip-On-Board, or Board-On-Chip devices. The interconnecting substrates used in packaged microelectronic devices typically include a plurality of contact elements coupled to bond-pads on the die, a plurality of ball-pads on at least one side of the interconnecting substrate, and conductive traces coupling each contact element to a corresponding ball-pad. Packaged microelectronic devices using an interconnecting substrate are generally surface mounted to another interconnecting substrate, such as a PCB, in the fabrication of Printed Circuit Assemblies (PCAs).
The competitive semiconductor manufacturing and printed circuit assembly industries are continually striving to miniaturize the microelectronic devices and the PCAs for use in laptop computers, hand-held computers, and communication products. Additionally, there is a strong drive to increase the operating frequencies of the microelectronic devices. The trends of miniaturization and high operating frequencies further drive the need to increase the density of traces and contacts on PCBs and other types of interconnecting substrates. Therefore, several high frequency packaged microelectronic devices require shielding to protect the integrity of the signals on the interconnecting substrate from capacitive coupling and/or inductive coupling.
In conventional PCB technologies, the signal integrity is protected by providing ground and power planes in the interconnecting substrates. Such use of ground and power planes in conventional interconnecting substrates has been limited to robust PCBs that are fairly thick. The miniaturization of components, however, often requires very thin interconnecting substrates for packaging microelectronic devices. One manufacturing concern of using ground and power planes in such thin interconnecting substrates is that high-temperature processing can cause voids to form in the substrates or delamination of the substrates. The substrates may also warp during high temperature processing.
To resolve the problems of voids, delamination and warping, the interconnecting substrates are typically preheated to remove moisture from the dielectric materials. One drawback of preheating the interconnecting substrates is that it is time-consuming and increases the cost of packaging microelectronic devices and fabricating PCAs. Additionally, although such preheating techniques are generally satisfactory for removing a sufficient amount of moisture from low-density, thick PCBs, preheating may still cause unacceptable voids or delamination in thin, high-density interconnecting substrates used in packaged microelectronic devices. The thicker conventional PCBs can have some voids and/or delamination without affecting the performance of the PCAs because they have sufficient structural integrity to prevent warpage and lower densities that are not likely affected by voids or slight delamination. In contrast to thick, low-density PCBs, the thin interconnecting substrates that are used in highly miniaturized applications may not have the structural integrity or sufficient open real estate to withstand preheating or subsequent high-temperature processing even after being preheated. Therefore, there is a need to develop a thin, high-density interconnecting substrate that can withstand high-temperature processes and is suitable for high density, high frequency applications.